10 cool summer camps to try this season
Summertime means camp time for many local children — a chance to try a new adventure, go exploring, make new friends, and just have fun.
We don’t have space to list them all, but here are 10 unique kids’ camps to check out this season:
1. The Western Development Museum’s Hands-on Heritage Summer Camps are being offered again at the Saskatoon museum location. Kids ages seven to 10 can attend full- or half-day camps chock full of activities, games, crafts and a behind-the-scenes look inside the museum. The hands-on approach makes learning history fun. Parents who are museum members even receive a discount for their child’s camp session. (https://wdm.ca/heritagecamps/)
2. Art isn’t just for adults, thanks to Remai Modern Art Gallery’s Summer Art Camps. Children can get creative at these free camps, which includes taking part in an exhibition by international artist Tino Sehgal combining dance and play with art. Other activities give kids a chance to learn artistic skills and express themselves through drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and more. A variety of camp sessions, lengths and times of day are available but camp spaces are limited and fill up quickly. (https://remaimodern.org/program/learningandengagement/on-siteart-camps)
3. Wildernook Fresh Air Learning founder Claire Miller shares her innovative experiential learning process to a series of summer camps for children ages three to 12. Camp sessions include themes like Pop-up Nature Play, Summatime Playventures, Wildernook Art & Ecology Camp, and Wildernook Outdoor Skills Camp. (https://www.wildernook.com/)
4. Summer is off-season for many children’s sports leagues, which makes it a great time for them to take their game to a whole new level at Canlan Summer Sports camps.
Canlan offers hockey camps for all skill levels, from learn-to-skate to the introductory Play to Learn sessions that teach youngsters the game while developing basic skills to performance camps for more advanced players. Camps take place at Jemini Arena. (https:// www.canlansports.com/)
5. What child hasn’t dreamed about running away and joining a circus, or maybe it’s their parents that had that dream? But a summer camp with a circus theme is just one of many camps available from Channel Performance.
Known for offering a supportive way for athletes to train and improve their results, Channel Performance brings that philosophy to a series of fun-focused camps, including a multi-sport camp, gymnastics camp, performance cheer and dance camp, track camp and the unique circus camp. In addition to full camps, there are some activities that can be experienced with a day pass or during a drop-in session. (https://www.channelperformance.ca/services)
6. You might think the University of Saskatchewan’s Museum of Antiquities would be a stuffy place that only a mummy could love, but your kids will love it too at an Ancient & Medieval Adventure Camp.
The museum promises “an adventure that will go down in history,” with camp days filled with games, crafts, lessons, and historical re-enactments of the daily lives of ancient Greeks, Romans, Vikings, and Aztecs. Children can choose to become a Roman soldier, a chivalrous knight, discover their inner wizard, or explore the tombs of ancient Egyptian pharaohs. (https://artsandscience.usask.ca/antiquities/ancientmedievaladventurescamps)
7. Saskexpress Studio lets children express themselves through singing, dancing, acting and other creative means during at a series of summer camps starting from ages three.
Camps for younger children will introduce them to dance, singing and storytelling, and then take part in a special performance and the end of the camp. Children eight and up can register for the summer stage program and learn the ropes of auditioning, rehearsing and performing by joining the
cast of a production of Disney’s Newsies musical that will play six shows at the Refinery Arts Centre. (https://saskexpress.com/saskatoonstudio)
8. Give your kids a fun time in the countryside while learning where our food comes from, at the Farm One Forty Kids’ Farm Camp. The week-long camp gives children a hands-on chance to learn how to care for animals and the earth in a regenerative way while having fun, building confidence and making new friends. The farm is located about 15 minutes west of Saskatoon. (https://www.farmoneforty.ca/product/kids-farmcamp-july-18/)
9. Cultural experiences come to life at Wanuskewin Heritage Park’s summer camps as children discover the history of the peoples of the northern plains.
Camp sessions have a choice of two themes: Where the Bison Roam, with activities focused on the history and role of bison in the area, including a chance to see the new baby bison; and Can You Dig It: an archaeology adventure that gives children the chance to visit with real archeologists and do a practice dig. (https://wanuskewin.com/visit/events-calendar/kids-day-campssummer-2022/)
10. As Saskatchewan’s children’s museum, Nutrien Wonderhub is a natural choice to offer Wonder Camps for children this summer.
The camps let children explore the museum close up by engaging with exhibits, then use their own creativity to create cool projects. There is also the chance for storytelling and other ways for kids to discover while having fun. (https://wonderhub.ca/explore/camps/)